Wood Carving Knife?

Barney · 06-21-2011, 12:17 PM

Can you recommend a good carving knife? What features should it posses? I'm guessing metal shouldn't dull quickly, so what metal would be the best choice?

Michael · 06-21-2011, 12:39 PM

Mora knives are beasts for carving wood. I've done a side by side comparison with a Mora, my Kershaw Zing, an Esee 3, a CRKT M16, and a Victorinox, and the Mora absolutely blew the lot of them away for carving away at wood. It wasn't even close.

You need to baby it a bit, but the carbon steel Moras take a really good edge and keep it for some time. Even when they've lost their edge, the shape of the blade just bites into things.

Oh, and they cost like 12 bucks.

**CozInCowtown** · 06-22-2011, 06:45 AM

I think Craftsman has some specialised wood carving knives.

Johnny · 06-22-2011, 10:15 AM

I too use Mora of Sweden, or as they are called now Morakniv knives. I use Classic Mora model #2 which is excellent for carving wood. And as Michael said they are like $12.

dinosaur · 06-22-2011, 08:30 PM

Whittlin' Jack knives are the best I've found. I have a set of 22 knives designed for every shaping need.

Gondor · 06-27-2011, 09:21 AM

I used a few Mora knives a long time ago and they are good but I think you can get even better knives for carving wood - maybe just not cheaper.

Michael · 06-28-2011, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gondor

I used a few Mora knives a long time ago and they are good but I think you can get even better knives for carving wood - maybe just not cheaper.

Sure, you could find some that do it better. Most of those are going to be dedicate wood carving knives, not general purpose ones. So I guess it depends on whether you're looking for a set of various sized and shaped tools to add to your kit, or if you'd like an all purpose tool.

I've compared a couple of Moras to an Esee 3, Rat 5, CKRT M16, Kershaw Zing, Kershaw Field Knife, a couple of Victorinox blades, and a bunch more. Some of those blades are ten times the price of a Mora. The Mora blows them all absolutely out of the water for carving wood.

If you want a multi-purpose blade that happens to be good at wood, I'd go with the Mora. If you want specialized tools, go with a wood carving kit with different shaped blades and sized chisels. Neither option need be expensive to be very effective.